Chief Says More Police Would End Prostitution

February 22, 1986|The Morning Call

Prostitutes would be "wiped off" city streets if Allentown had more police officers, Police Chief David M. Howells Sr. said last night.

"We're doing the best job we can with the limited resources we have," said Howells in a talk before a small group attending the monthly meeting of the Lehigh Valley Democratic Association at the Pennsylvania Restaurant in the city. "We don't have enough cops, and two (new ones) a year just doesn't make it."

"If we had more cops, we'd go out and wipe them off the streets," Howells said, noting that Allentown is the state's fourth-largest city but has the 17th-largest police department.

While the chief said lack of manpower is a major problem, he made it clear that Allentown has an arrest record to be proud of.

In the past two years police have arrested 163 adult males, 204 adult females, two juvenile males and 21 juvenile females, said the chief.

One of those arrested, said Howells, was a local woman who, the chief said, jumped into his car as he drove down Hamilton Mall and offered her services between the mall and police headquarters.

"The vice-squad had been trying to make a hit on her for nine months," Howells joked.

Contrary to public perception that Allentown is a hot spot for prostitution, Howells said, "Allentown really is known throughout the eastern seaboard as a town that really does not tolerate the so-called victimless crime."

He said fines locally run as high as $1,500, while many communities either don't make many arrests or impose fines of as little as $30.

Howells said Allentown is also well-known and for its techniques in dealing with prostitution, such as arresting johns.

"I believe that by arresting johns you do curtail the activity," Howells said. "It will keep some of the customers from coming into town."

He said his goal is to keep the out-of-town prostitutes out of town and make enough arrests to keep the local prostitutes "at a minimum."

Some center-city residents, including the owners of Trinkle's Cafe at 533 Turner St., asked the chief what could be done about loitering at 6th and Turner streets.

The bar owners said their business has been hurt because people think it caters to the same kind of folks who congregate outside.

Howells said the corner is a hot spot for drug deals and the police sweep through on a regular basis, but, "It's a vicious cycle" of arrests, sentencing and rearrests.

"You know how many 6th and Turners there are in the city of Allentown?" Howells asked.